The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-05-15
pOpOCATEPETL'S CONE.
MAKING THE ASCENT WITHOUT
AID OF GUIDES OR MULES.
x,.,, % the Volcano which Looks DOW"
Upon the City Of he'''' ~"
a.. cratcr-Gathering sulphur


.hor, noon I reached Amecameca' ana
after n good dinner and few glasses OF
- vowed that would reach the sum
-, - Porocatepetl. and that without guides
= mules II II took a whole year TODD IT, Inc
resolution having been duly made lald IN
o,,r, supplies Of Undertaking, blankets aud
,rovisious. and then made arrangements 20
start carly the next morning The n'Nt uay
I'll, after spurisc ! was up amd ready %
tort The path was. Of course the same
over which had gone the previous day, but
somehow ! managed 20 wander OH ON
branch road. and only discovered my ml--
take when the path came 90 q sudden end.
A Mexican would consider iow oaths very
on,,ropriotc on such an occasion, but, beng "a
Good American. merely turned around ana
rofroced nv steps The mistake was ceI-
family n serious one. as DO took nearly TWO
boprs Of fast walking % reach the right path.
After trudging and walking over twelve
miles Of road and seeing n0 Signs oi tine ranch.
determined % leave the path, cut across the
enur Of the mountain airl make thc ascent
from the west side. instead of taking the long
and tedious path usually followed. About
2 O'Clock came 90 the line where veg
citation ended, and decided pas, the night
M that place For hOur- ! had been walk
ing through forests Of pines bat bad al last
reached the limit beyond wlich neither plant
nor tree dared % go The mighty peak, COW
cred with the dazzling coat Of snow from
the summit 90 point 5000 or 1000 feet be-
low. Law close at hand. while the distant
fields. valley, and bills stretched IN all direc
tions The edge of the forest seemed 90 Dee
particularly sheltered from the winds, and
would thus make the best camping place %
be found Having plenty of time, ! wa, not
hurried. and was able p construct a suis'an
tial hut in which % pas, the night The pine
trees were dry. SO that it "aS ana easy matter
70 break of great branches Thus by dark
the work was finished, and after putting ON
all my extra clothing and having a hearty
lunch ] crawled inside and prepared 20 pass
the night ID was a little cold -the theruOm-
eter being considerably below the freezing
point-and yet ! managed % sleep well and
wake up bright and early the next morning,
prepared % finish the undertaking.
ASCENT TO TIE SNOW LINE
left the camp and struck across .loping
ridge composed entirely of fine volcanic dust
and ashc, Walking was extremely difficult.
as the loose ashes bad "a disaprceabe way of
nying i'm all directions. and although the dis
tance was Jess than 1000 feet. nearly two
hours were consumed iu crossing the strip
A steep. rocky rayiue then followed and led
10 the foot of the glacier. a large stream of
water, coming from the end of the field of
ice. dashed over prccipice, in ITS mad course.
and was finally lost in the distance The as
J.. lint I..I..
rious. aud resulted in numerous bruises and
scratches
BY alternate freezing and thawing the
snow ON the cone has been turned into clear,
Transparent ice, in some places from 30 20 100
feet thick The surface, however, is covered
with half frozen snow. partially melted. dur
ing the day tlmc but solid at night Numer-
Gus small cre,ices are Oh the lower edge. bat
none of them large enough 10 be at an dam
gerous The ascent at first was at AN angle
Of twenty degrees, but soon increased To-
nearly forty, making it almost impossible 90
advance except by crawling ON the hands
and knees The air became so rareGed that
only few step. could be taken at n time
without painting and fairly choking % death.
After three hours of such climbing ] ar
rived suddenly 40 the crater Before me lay
an immense cha-m nearly half mile in di-
ameter and perhaps 1000 tcet deep The at
mosphere was "a triile misty, aud mi the more
distant mountains but almost 40 my feet lay
the valley of Mexico. Pucbla. and lbs fields.
while far away the faint white outlines of
Mount Orizaha could bee seen The edge Of
the crater is of loose sand the Ice and snow
ending abruptly being prevented from adj
vancing farther by the heat which rises from
below. The vapor, issuing from the various
solfataras, the dazzling wlitoucssof the cone
and the blue ssv above produced "a scene OF
wonderful beauty
WHERE SULPHUR IS OBTAINED
Wishing TO learn how the sulphur is OBJ
tanned, walked ON the lipof the crater 20 the
opposite side, and there bymeanso of clumsy
hosting machine descended several hundred
feet % "a level where a number " Indians
were at work Tie air was filed with poison
Gus vapors SD dense that 10 seemed impossible
for human bong 20 remain i'm the place
Numerous small hole, and crevices could be-
seen in the bottom of the abyss, from which
the deadly yap0rs issued with considerable
force. Around each opening large quantity
Of sulphur is deposited each day. aud forms
the mine from which the valuable mineral is
obtained. The supply seems To- beinexhausti-
BILE, for, no matter how much is gathered
during the day, enough viii Doe deposited the
following night 20 more than make up for
what has been taken. After being gathered,
the crude sulphur is carried TO the top of the
crater and then shot down slide over the ice
for a distance Of 1000 on 5000 feet small
subhmating works is situated near the SNOW
line, and there the raw material is put into
marketable shape and sent TO different parts
OF the country The poor wretchcs whoworl,
IN the crater stay up there about two weeks
at a time, and then are sent 20 lower alt-
tude, where they remain for perhaps three
weeks
After being on the summit for ana hour, /
began 90 fell a strange, dizzy sensation and
realized the necessity " returning at once TO
the valley below Taking one last look al
crater, aud the panorama which was spread
ON every side, l began the descent The
glacier, which hal been SD hard % ascend,
proved O. De a capital Siding place iu coming